CITY HALL
The City Council instructed a Ramsay Drive property owner and the architect of his proposed 3,700-square-foot home to scale back the project's size, change its garage design, plant trees and work toward saving some nearby oak trees.
The council voted 3-1 Tuesday night to continue the matter until Oct. 10, and asked that architect Edward Hagobian revamp project plans to include a house no larger than 3,499 square feet and no taller than 28 feet with a two-car detached garage.
Current plans call for a two-story, five-bedroom, single-family residence with an attached three-car garage tucked underneath the hill.
Zoning Administrator Edith Fuentes granted a conditional-use permit in March for construction of the home, which would sit on a 21,300-square-foot lot on a 58% slope, and require grading of 1,800 cubic yards of earth — exceeding the city's 50% slope maximum and 1,500-cubic-yard grading maximum in a restricted residential zone, she said.
Albert Natian, who lives on Cascadia Drive below the proposed house, unsuccessfully appealed that decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals in April, and in May he appealed the board's decision to the council, she said.
Natian, who was one of about a dozen area residents to speak out against the project Tuesday night, claims the home was too big and incompatible with the neighborhood.
Council members also asked that 10 sycamore trees and at least 10 oak trees be added to the design.
Per the council's direction, Public Works officials will also be working with the project's engineer on finding a way to pave the road with little or no impact to the trees, Public Works Director Stephen Zurn said.
Mayor Dave Weaver dissented from Tuesday's vote, saying he wasn't going to approve the continuance with all those specific conditions.
PUBLIC SAFETY
A La Crescenta man who was kidnapped while serving in Baghdad with the Iraqi American Chamber of Commerce was released on Aug. 5 after five days of being held as a prisoner.
Raad Ommar — who moved from La Crescenta, where he lived for about a decade, to Iraq in April 2003 — was kidnapped by armed fighters he believes were Iraqi security forces on July 31.
The 59-year-old founder of the chamber was blindfolded, beaten, handcuffed and held hostage for 128 hours before his wife paid $320,000 to his captors for his release, Ommar said.
Ommar was kidnapped with a group of 25 others — seven of whom worked in his Baghdad office, he said.
